National Diabetes Month provides opportunity to help turn the tide
against diabetes by helping expand enrollment in award-winning
evidence-based program to prevent the disease

Diabetes in America: A majority of Americans recognize the threat diabetes poses to the nation's health and have a solid understanding about the disease and its consequences. (Graphic: UnitedHealth Group)

Download

Diabetes in America: A majority of Americans recognize the threat diabetes poses to the nation's health and have a solid understanding about the disease and its consequences. (Graphic: UnitedHealth Group)

As part of National Diabetes Month, UnitedHealth Group commissioned a national survey with more than 1,000 U.S. adults to gauge their awareness of diabetes, prediabetes, the disease's risk factors and its health implications.

MINNETONKA, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A majority of Americans recognize the threat diabetes poses to the
nation’s health and have a solid understanding about the disease and its
consequences, according to a new survey from UnitedHealth
Group (NYSE: UNH).

November is National Diabetes Month – an opportunity for people to turn
awareness into action and play a part in helping to tackle the epidemic,
which is taking a toll on the health and financial well-being of
individuals, families, communities, businesses and the nation’s health
system.

UnitedHealth Group’s national survey, conducted via telephone with more
than 1,000 U.S. adults age 18 and older, found that:

92 percent of respondents know there is a difference between type 1
and type 2 diabetes;

82 percent recognize that type 2 diabetes is largely preventable;

73 percent believe they will not necessarily get diabetes just because
it runs in their family;

60 percent know the definition of the term “prediabetes”;

84 percent are familiar with leading diabetes risk factors including:
being overweight (80 percent), a family history of diabetes (76
percent), lack of exercise (74 percent), high blood pressure (59
percent), high cholesterol (58 percent), and being age 45 or older (48
percent); and

85 percent have had their blood sugar level tested and know the result.

“People are taking notice that we face a public health crisis in the
form of obesity, prediabetes and diabetes, so the opportunity now exists
to turn awareness into actions like eating healthier, increasing
physical activity, being tested for risk factors or joining prevention
programs,” said Deneen Vojta, M.D., senior vice president of
UnitedHealth Group and chief clinical officer of the Diabetes
Prevention and Control Alliance (DPCA). “Our national conversation
around the diabetes epidemic has entered a new era; it’s time national
actions do the same.”

According to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are about 26 million
American adults with diabetes. More than 90 percent of them suffer from
type 2 diabetes, the often preventable form of the disease. Currently
about 35 percent of the U.S. adult population has prediabetes, putting
79 million Americans at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. UnitedHealth
Center for Health Reform & Modernization research shows that more than
half of all Americans will have diabetes or prediabetes by the end of
this decade.

“By 2021, about 40 million American adults will have diabetes and
another 100 million will be diagnosed with prediabetes – at a cost of
$3.5 trillion over the next decade,” said Tom Beauregard, executive vice
president of UnitedHealth Group and executive director of the
UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization. “Given these
figures, it’s clear there is a diabetes time bomb ticking in America,
due in large part to the escalating obesity rates in our country.
Practical steps can be taken, however, to defuse this time bomb.”

Solid evidence has shown that early and aggressive intervention can
reverse the disease’s course for people with prediabetes and reduce its
devastating impact on people already diagnosed. Lifestyle changes and a
5- to 7-percent weight reduction can reduce the risk of developing type
2 diabetes by 58 percent in people with prediabetes.

One or both DPCA core programs, the Diabetes Prevention Program and the
Diabetes Control Program, are available at no out-of-pocket cost to
participants enrolled in employer-provided health insurance plans in
select markets through UnitedHealthcareand Medica,
They are:

The Diabetes Prevention Program, which is an innovative lifestyle
coaching program conducted in a group setting through the Y that helps
people with prediabetes and who are at high risk for developing type 2
diabetes prevent or delay the onset of the disease through
healthy eating, increased physical activity, and other lifestyle
changes. It is a year-long program with 16 weekly sessions and then
monthly follow-up. The program is part of the National Diabetes
Prevention Program led by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC); and

The Diabetes Control Program, which offers private, one-on-one
consultation with pharmacists who provide education and support to
help people with diabetes better control their condition and
reduce the risk of developing complications from diabetes.

The DPCA programs are based on studies funded by theNational
Institutes of Health (NIH), CDC and other federal agencies. Since
the launch of the DPCA, its two signature programs have expanded to
reach more than 7.8 million people.

Survey MethodologyThe national
telephone poll was conducted Sept. 14-17, 2012, by ORC International
using its CARAVAN omnibus services on behalf of UnitedHealth Group. The
national sample included 1,007 adults (503 men and 504 women), 18 years
of age and older, and living in the continental United States. 657
interviews were from the landline sample, and 350 interviews from the
cell phone sample. Margin of error was +/- 2 percentage points for the
total national sample of 2,012 and +/- 3 percentage points for the
qualified national sample of 1,007 at a 95-percent confidence level.

About UnitedHealth GroupUnitedHealth
Group (NYSE: UNH) is a diversified health and well-being company
dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making health care
work better. With headquarters in Minnetonka, Minn., UnitedHealth Group
offers a broad spectrum of products and services through two distinct
platforms: UnitedHealthcare, which provides health care coverage and
benefits services; and Optum, which provides information and
technology-enabled health services. Through its businesses, UnitedHealth
Group serves more than 75 million people worldwide. For more information
visit UnitedHealth Group at www.unitedhealthgroup.com.